Marysville School District Pays $3.5 Million to Two Former Students Abused by Art Teacher in School Darkroom

In the spring of a former student's eighth-grade year at Marysville Junior High School, art teacher Kurt Hollstein began pulling her out of class and into the school's film darkroom, where he sexually abused her repeatedly over the following two years. Hollstein also served as the school's cheerleading adviser, giving him regular, unsupervised contact with the young students in his program. The abuse occurred two to three times a week during eighth and ninth grade and continued into tenth grade, when a final incident the plaintiff later described as 'aggressive' ended the pattern.

The harm left visible marks on the victim's academic record. Her grade-point average fell from 3.5 in eighth grade to 0.33 by the second semester of tenth grade. Classmates noticed she 'wasn't the same girl.' She described herself as 'emotionally just really messed up and damaged.' Hollstein, for his part, continued working in the Marysville district for decades after the abuse, eventually becoming athletic director at Marysville Getchell High School. He remained on the payroll until June 2021.

The first plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit against the district in March 2021, represented by Ashton K. Dennis of Washington Law Center. A second former student came forward and joined the case. In January 2022, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Paul Thompson granted partial summary judgment, ruling that the district had violated Washington's Law Against Discrimination. Under changes to Washington State law, school districts bear strict liability for sexual abuse committed by staff on school grounds, even when no administrator had prior knowledge of the misconduct. The district did not dispute that the abuse was never reported to any administrator during the 1980s.

With trial set for May 23, 2022, the district and its insurers settled both claims for $3.5 million. The settlement also included a written apology from the district. Insurance covered the full amount with no direct expenditure of district funds. 'These victims went through years of abuse, which continues to impact them to this very day,' Dennis said after the settlement was announced.

The resolution drew public attention beyond the two plaintiffs. A man came forward in the months that followed after reading news coverage of the $3.5 million settlement. He filed a separate tort claim in June 2022, alleging Hollstein had sexually abused him as well, beginning in 1981. That case settled in December 2022 for $1 million, again with Dennis representing the plaintiff, bringing the total paid by the district's insurers to $4.5 million across three former students.